By Brent Efford
From1924-32 a single vehicle line that ran from the Thorndon tram depot, at the end of that route, to Kaiwharawhara (one of several spellings) about 2 km away. The Thorndon tram line was never converted to trolleybuses when it closed in 1964 and, as will be well established by the events of a week ago, Wellington's current trolleybus system started in 1949. Therefore the first line was separated by time and space.
Incidentally, the body of that first vehicle
still exists - we photographed
it on a trip to out-of-town sites during the festival. There is
a move afoot
to save and restore it. Relevant to another topic on the go at
the moment:
the wire gauge of the 1924 line was narrow - certainly no more
than 18" and, judging from photos, possibly narrower. Much
of the overhead was constructed using OB-style iron curve hangers
bolted directly together in pairs, with cone and cap insulators.
My memory of these fittings would suggest a gauge nearer 12",
and the wires certainly look that close together in photos. The
trolley poles were mounted one above the other on a common base,
making a V when looked at head-on. This was used on some early
British vehicles, including a Ransomes demonstrator supplied to
Christchurch (#213) in 1931.